Calories per hour burned while skiing?

[SnowCountry]

I'm wondering if anyone has researched how many calories per hour are burned during a day's skiing.

I understand there are a lot of variables, but it'd be great if someone had some information to shed light on this.

I'm under a medically directed program to lose weight, and try to keep track of calories burned each day.

 

[KingGrump]

A person who weighs 155 pounds burns 223 calories in half an hour of downhill skiing, according to Harvard Medical School. Someone who is 185 pounds burns 266 calories in 30 minutes of downhill skiing.

YMMV.

 

[Ron]

that also depends on how much energy is used in your skiing, and of course, actual skiing time vs standing in line or in the lodge drinking hot chocolate or bloody mary's

 

[Chris Walker]

I don't think it's possible to answer, given the extreme variation of physical effort in the range of activities that can all be defined as skiing. Time spent on lifts, in line and stopped on the hill obviously don't burn very many calories. I think the best bet might be to get one of those activity trackers, like fit bit. You put in your age, weight, etc. and especially if you get one that measures heart rate, it estimates the calories you use. I'm sure it isn't perfect, but I'll bet it gets you a lot closer than coming up with a rule of thumb of calories per hour.

 

[Lorenzzo]

I go through periods where I count and have found a morning of moderate skiing is 500-800 calories for me, based on calorie intake and weight result. Don't use a Fittbit.

 

[surfsnowgirl]

Is it the my fitness pal app that has a ski activity you can select. No idea how accurate it is.

 

[Tricia]

A person who weighs 155 pounds burns 223 calories in half an hour of downhill skiing, according to Harvard Medical School. Someone who is 185 pounds burns 266 calories in 30 minutes of downhill skiing.

YMMV.

that also depends on how much energy is used in your skiing, and of course, actual skiing time vs standing in line or in the lodge drinking hot chocolate or bloody mary's

I was also wondering how much depends on the efficiency of skiing.

 

[Ron]

as @Chris Walker posted, a heart rate monitor is really important if you want accuracy

 

[graham418]

Some time ago there was a study done on the phenomena of moguls moving uphill, and the caloric expenditure required to do so . And of course they had to equate it to beer., ie x number of beers to move a mogul 1 metre up a hill
There was a time lapse video too, showing the bumps migrating up the hill.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-skiers-move-moguls-uphill

http://academic.regis.edu/dbahr/generalpages/research/MogulMovieLarger.htm

 

[Lorenzzo]

Is it the my fitness pal app that has a ski activity you can select. No idea how accurate it is.

Here's the calculator. I've used their estimates for various activities, sometimes accurate for me, sometimes not.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/exercise/lookup

Enter skiing and a number of options come up.

By the way, heart rate monitors are based on algorithmic assumptions and aren't effective for anaerobic exercise.

 

[Tricia]

as @Chris Walker posted, a heart rate monitor is really important if you want accuracy

My apple watch has an activity goal which I set when I got the watch.
Last year I was commenting that I could ski all day and not get much credit for my activity level.
I took that as a sign that my hands were fairly quiet, but does that mean I wasn't active?

 

[surfsnowgirl]

If you're an Android person and have a Samsung phone another option would be to select skiing as the activity in Samsung S Health and with your phone in your pocket it'll sense your movements, etc. One option I use is I go into S Health on my Samsung smart watch and select elliptical as from what I hear using this setting has a nice steady reading of heart rate measuring as well as calories for intermittent stop/go activities such as skiing.

Just a couple ideas.

 

[tball]

I think the most accurate measurement will be a Garmin Fenix watch with a chest strap heart rate monitor.

The Fenix 2, Fenix 3 and Fenix 5 all have an excellent ski tracking mode, along with its ability to track pretty much every other activity. The ski mode automatically pauses tracking when you are riding the lift or stopped, so it just measures your ski time. With a heart rate monitor, you'll get an excellent estimate of calories burned. Wrist-based HRM's are notoriously lousy running because of the movement, so probably the same skiing?. Chest straps are very accurate, but a pain in the butt until you get used to them.

I have a Fenix 2 and usually don't wear my heart rate monitor skiing, as I'm just interested in tracking 1) ski days and vertical feet from a skiing perspective, and 2) my skiing time from a fitness perspective. I count my skiing time as exercise time and call it good. I did wear the HRM a bunch when I first got it. Let me dig up some example data...

 

[SnowCountry]

I don't think it's possible to answer, given the extreme variation of physical effort in the range of activities that can all be defined as skiing. Time spent on lifts, in line and stopped on the hill obviously don't burn very many calories. I think the best bet might be to get one of those activity trackers, like fit bit. You put in your age, weight, etc. and especially if you get one that measures heart rate, it estimates the calories you use. I'm sure it isn't perfect, but I'll bet it gets you a lot closer than coming up with a rule of thumb of calories per hour.

I'm well aware of the variables.

I can easily track how much time I spend skiing (I use a GPS tracker that monitors how much time I spend each day in motion, and roughly 1/2 of that time is spent on the lift). I just need to figure out about how many calories per hour of time spent going downhill I'm burning. A range of calories per hour is just fine.

I have thought about a heart rate monitor but really don't want to wear more gadgets while skiing, and more importantly, think it's something I'd only use a couple times.

 

[Karl B]

I have the Trace Snow app on my phone. It will report vertical feet, speed, time on lift, actual ski time, tracks which resort you are skiing and lastly calories burned. Is it accurate? I don't know about the calories but the rest of appears to be so. After a day on the slopes you can review everything from your laptop if you desire.

Karl

 

[Posaune]

I'm sure beginners burn a lot more calories than experts. Now if you're hiking for turns, then it's a different story.

 

[KingGrump]

I was also wondering how much depends on the efficiency of skiing.

I must be very efficient. I am usually fat in the winter.

 

[KingGrump]

Now if you're hiking for turns

That is two separate activities. Hiking & Skiing.

 

[Varmintmist]

I'm thinking that 800 cal/hr sounds like a great excuse to go more often for those of us who make efficient use of gravity.

 

[Crank]

Another efficient skier here; I usually gain weight on ski vacations! Must be the beer...and the burgers...and the fries...and....